Giggs to join Premier League 40 club

'This is an exciting team to be part of,
with great team spirit, and we are again pushing for trophies as we
head towards the business end of the season.

'I am delighted to have signed a new contract. I would like to thank Sir Alex and the coaching staff and I would also like to thank David Gill who has been a tremendous support over my many years here.'

Giggs is on course to win a 13th league championship with United 12 points clear of Manchester City.

His next game will be his 1,000th senior appearance, which includes games for Wales and Team GB at the London Olympics.

United front: Giggs and Ferguson with the rest of the squad after the Welshman agreed his new deal

Going strong: Giggs was on target in United's victory at QPR last weekend

Manager Sir Alex Ferguson said: 'What can I say about Ryan that hasn't already been said?

'He is a marvellous player and an exceptional human being. Ryan is an example to us all, the way in which he has, and continues to, look after himself.

'He could be playing his 1,000th game
tomorrow and I don't think that will ever be achieved again, the way
players contracts seem to work these days.

'He deserves this contract as his form has never changed. He still has great balance and touch on the ball and great fitness.

'He still gets you a goal, too.

'He has fantastic energy for the game
and it is wonderful to see. Ryan seems to reach a new milestone every
week and to think that he now has 23 unbroken years of league goals
behind him is truly amazing in the modern-day game.

'His
form this year shows his ability and his enjoyment of the game are as
strong as ever and I am absolutely delighted that he has signed a new
contract.'

Asked if Giggs would one day move on to the coaching staff at Old Trafford, Ferguson was adamant.

He added: 'That will happen. We have
done the same with people like Nicky Butt and Brian McClair and when
Ryan finishes it will be exactly the same.

'We are good at that.'

Giggs came through the ranks at Old
Trafford and was offered his first professional contract in 1990 on the
day of his 17th birthday.

He made his League debut against Everton on March 2, 1991 as a substitute for Denis Irwin.

Ferguson himself has said this week that he would like to become a director when he eventually steps down as manager.

He said: 'That will be a long time
away, I hope. If you look at Sir Bobby Charlton he really has been a
tremendous support system for the manager and the players here.

Not for stopping: Giggs will enter a 23rd season as a first-team player for Manchester United

GIGGS BY NUMBERS

168 goals in 931 appearances for Man United

149 players Giggs has played with at United, born from 1957 to 1995.

16 the only player to score in 16 Champions League seasons.

127 Giggs is the player with the most Premier League assists with 127

If another United legend, George Best, had stayed at the club as long as Giggs, he would've been there when Ferguson arrived in 1996

'The Bayern Munich model - where former players have big positions at the club - is brilliant.'

Former United favourite David Beckham says Ferguson must take all the credit for the longevity of the players at Old Trafford.

Beckham, 37, is now at Paris Saint-Germain while the likes of his former team-mates Phil Neville and Paul Scholes, as well as Giggs, are still performing at the highest level.

'The majority of the Manchester United players who started in the mid 1990s - Ryan Giggs, Nicky Butt, Gary Neville, Phil Neville, Paul Scholes and I - are still on the pitch,' former England captain Beckham told L'Equipe.

'I think it is because Sir Alex Ferguson showed us the way when we were teenagers. He taught us to respect the game, to respect our body and to love what we do.

'For now, Ryan Giggs is the one who has been furthest (in his career). He continues to play at the highest level and he does not seem to want to stop.'

Hail the gaffer: David Beckham (right) says Ferguson is responsible for his players lasting so long

Ferguson confirmed he expects Paul Scholes to play some part in the run-in after his recent fitness problems.

Norwich are up next for United and Ferguson insists they are fully focused on the clash despite entertaining Real Madrid on Tuesday with the Champions League last-16 tie all square at 1-1.

The Scot added: 'Tomorrow is an important game for us. Tuesday will look after itself. That is an occasion whereas tomorrow is a more mundane, practical situation. But we need to win.

'I can assure you my players will not be thinking about Tuesday.'

If Norwich win it will be just the 15th time a team has done the double over United since the Premier League started. The Canaries beat the Premier League leaders 1-0 in November at Carrow Road.

FOOTBALL'S FORTY-SOMETHINGS

Here, Sportsmail takes a look at six other outfield players who all played on into the fifth decade of their lives.

TEDDY SHERINGHAMSheringham started his professional career at Millwall aged 16 and spent eight years at the club with two brief loan spells at Aldershot and Swedish side Djurgarden before moving on to Nottingham Forest and then Tottenham.

At Spurs, Sheringham forged a dangerous strike partnership with Jurgen Klinsmann before he made the switch to Old Trafford in 1997 as a replacement for Eric Cantona.

After not winning a major trophy in his 15-year career, Sheringham then won three in one season at Manchester United in 1999 - the Premier League title, FA Cup and Champions League - before returning to Tottenham in 2001 on a free transfer.

Spells at Portsmouth and West Ham followed two more seasons at White Hart Lane, with Sheringham ending his 25-year career at Colchester aged 42.

GORDON STRACHANStrachan startedout at Dundee before he was snapped up by Billy McNeill at Aberdeen but it was when Sir Alex Ferguson arrived at Pittodrie that he made his mark, winning two Scottish championships, three Scottish Cups, the European Cup-Winners' Cup and the European Super Cup.

He added the FA Cup after moving to Manchester United before Ferguson sold him to Leeds. Strachan joined David Batty, Gary McAllister and Gary Speed in a brilliant midfield at Elland Road and skippered the side, winning the Second Division, First Division and Charity Shield. He also scooped the FWA Player of the Year award, having also won it in Scotland during his Dons days. Coventry City was his final club as a player.

Now Scotland manager, Strachan won 50 caps.

ALESSANDRO COSTACURTACostacurta won the Serie A crown seven times and the European Cup five times with AC Milan over the course of a 21-year career at the club.

The central defender became the oldest footballer to play in the Champions League, in Milan's 1-0 loss to AEK Athens on 21 November 2006, aged 40 years and 211 days.

The Italian played his final home game against Udinese in May 2007 at the age of 41.

PAOLO MALDINILike Costacurta, Maldini spent his entire professional career signed to Milan and formed one of the greatest defences in Serie A alongside the central defender with Mauro Tassotti and Franco Baresi.

Maldini retired at the age of 41 in 2009 after 25 years playing for the Italian giants which saw him also play for Italy for 14 years.

The defender had planned to retire a year earlier but changed his mind following Milan's elimination from the Champions League by Arsenal and signed a year's contract extension, with his final game coming against Fiorentina on May 31, 2009. Milan subsequently retired his No 3 shirt.

SIR STANLEY MATTHEWSMatthews started and ended an incredible 33-year professional playing career at Stoke before his retirement at the age of 50.

The outside right spent 19 years in total with the Potters, from 1932 to 1947 and then four years from 1961 to 1965.

Sandwiched in between was a 14-year period at Blackpool where he won the FA Cup once and was twice runner-up with the Seasiders.

Matthews also helped Stoke be crowned Second Division champions twice and won 54 caps for England.

ROMARIORomario played for 10 different clubs over the course of a 24-year career with multiple spells at Brazilian clubs Vasco da Gama, Flamengo, Valencia and Fluminense.

The Brazilian, who helped his country win the World Cup in 1994 and also played for Barcelona and PSV Eindhoven, was a prolific striker who scored more than 1,000 goals in his career - a landmark he passed in 2007 in a match for Vasco.

He finished his career at Rio de Janeiro-based side America in 2009, aged 43.